When health care professionals work together, they can help manage polypharmacy better – by helping make medication decisions consistent with a patient’s goals, by contributing expertise that reduces reliance on medications and by making changes to medications together while carefully monitoring the effect. We used the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative’s (CIHC) National Interprofessional Competency Framework (2010) to help clarify the specific roles, responsibilities and processes required of healthcare professionals to effectively manage polypharmacy in older persons.
This project included focus groups with healthcare professional teams and a national Canadian survey to identify and determine what competencies are most important in managing polypharmacy. The results have helped identify learning needs for healthcare professionals in order to manage polypharmacy as a team.
Lead: Dr. Barbara Farrell, Bruyère Research Institute
Co-investigators: Dr. Doug Archibald, Dr. Pamela Grassau, Dr. Tejal Patel, Dr. Lalitha Raman-Wilms, Lynda Weaver, Dr. Nancy Winslade
Contact: deprescribing@bruyere.org
Funder (2013): Bruyère Research Institute Growth Fund
Additional links:
Publications:
- Farrell B, Thompson W, Black C, Archibald D, Raman-Wilms L, Grassau P, Patel T, Weaver L, Eid K, Winslade N. Operationalizing the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC) Competency Framework for team management of polypharmacy in older persons: a modified Delphi validation. Canadian Pharmacists Journal https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1715163518804276
